Liberation Not Liberated

Ah, how I remember my student days in Paris back in the fifties when one could approach a newsstand and select from among over a dozen newspapers representing every political viewpoint under the sun. Unlike the world of the Internet, these papers were staffed by people who had studied and actually read books and magazines prior to writing about the issues of the day. Liberation was founded by the great French writer, Jean Paul Sartre asa left wing voice in France. Today, like most newspapers, it struggles for its existence with “ONLY” 100,000 readers. Just think, each day a few hundred thousand read articles from those with leftist perspectives. But, owners of the newspaper announced a plan that would cease publication of Liberation and utilize its facilities for other purposes. It would become a “social network” area in which there would be a restaurant, a TV studio, and facilities to encourage start up ventures. I assume reporters would become waiters wandering around talking left wing ideas with patrons.

Eduoard de Rothschild, from a family with a few bucks and part owner of Liberation made clear to the staff if they refuse the new idea, “what’s at stake is its death.” The staff responded with a statement: “we are a newspaper, not a restaurant, not a social network, not a cultural space, not a TV studio, not a bar, and not a start up incubator.”